This is the tenth in the Tea Shop Mysteries series. Childs is also the author of the Scrapbooking Mysteries and the new Cackleberry Club Mysteries. I've read samplings of the Scrapbooking series, set in New Orleans, but this is the first time I've picked up one of Childs' Tea Shop Mysteries. I've been missing out.
For one the setting for this charming series is Charleston, SC, one of the world's most beautiful and atmospheric cities. Childs does a terrific job of weaving in Charleston locations and lore in this novel, and I'm sure the same is true of the earlier ones. Secondly, her characters are as likable and interesting as the setting. Third, I happen to be a tea lover, so I can relate to issues of running the Indigo Tea Shop and making the tea, scones and tea sandwiches featured in the book. The main character, Theodosia Browning, is likable and interesting.
I can't say that the plot is all that original or believable. In fact, it is quite contrived. But the characters and description of the location make up for it in a way and I was compelled to read the book in only a couple of sittings.
I plan on checking out more in the Tea Shop series and drinking in a little more Charleston atmosphere.
Liz Nichols
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Bordeaux by Paul Torday
"Bordeaux" is quite a unique and extraordinary novel by the author of "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen," Paul Torday. This is my first experience reading this author and I look forward to reading more by him.
The way this novel is structured is one of the unique elements, as well as the way the author plumbs the depths of the psyche of the main character, Frank Wilberforce. Each section of the book goes back a year in time. So the in the first section, 2006, we find out that Wilberforce is in seriously ill-health due to alcoholism and still in denial about his habit. It does not seem as if he has more than a few months to live, and may already have suffered irreversible dementia and other damage as a result of a 4 bottles of wine per day habit that has gone on for around 3 years. That first part is really quite painful to read, especially for anyone who likes to drink wine regularly.
The earlier chapters are easier to read because the first person chronicle makes a little more sense to the reader. Still, one catches Wilberforce in a tangle of illogical thinking and self-lies that become his reality over time. By the time one reads the last section, for the year 2002, it is easy to put all the puzzle pieces together to see how Wilberforce ends up the way he does.
This is not a particularly enjoyable book to read, but it is an instructional cautionary tale and one that could well save lives for current alcoholics and their friends and family.
Liz Nichols
The way this novel is structured is one of the unique elements, as well as the way the author plumbs the depths of the psyche of the main character, Frank Wilberforce. Each section of the book goes back a year in time. So the in the first section, 2006, we find out that Wilberforce is in seriously ill-health due to alcoholism and still in denial about his habit. It does not seem as if he has more than a few months to live, and may already have suffered irreversible dementia and other damage as a result of a 4 bottles of wine per day habit that has gone on for around 3 years. That first part is really quite painful to read, especially for anyone who likes to drink wine regularly.
The earlier chapters are easier to read because the first person chronicle makes a little more sense to the reader. Still, one catches Wilberforce in a tangle of illogical thinking and self-lies that become his reality over time. By the time one reads the last section, for the year 2002, it is easy to put all the puzzle pieces together to see how Wilberforce ends up the way he does.
This is not a particularly enjoyable book to read, but it is an instructional cautionary tale and one that could well save lives for current alcoholics and their friends and family.
Liz Nichols
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton
This is Bolton's first novel, and she promises to be a mainstay of British thrillers for a long time to come.
The author blurb indicates that the novel is borne out of Bolton's fascination for British folklore, and the basis for this book is a blood curdling folktale from the Shetland Islands that goes back to the Viking heritage of the isles. The heroine, obstetrician, Tora Hamilton, is a transplant from the mainland who moves to the Shetlands with her native born husband, Duncan Guthrie and discovers while trying to bury her fallen horse on their newly purchased farm a dead body of a woman who has both recently given birth and had her heart torn out from her body while she was still alive. Naturally, this sets off a forensic hunt for the killer or killers.
The frigid land and reserved people are finely drawn in this chilling tale. It is hard to know who to trust and whether most of the people Tora meets are in on a huge conspiracy to hide an ancient, bloody practice.
I must confess this book was hard to put down and I read it cover to cover in only two or three sittings, ignoring all kinds of other things I should have been doing.
This book is not for the squeamish, but those who can stomach a little gore will be well rewarded by the intrigue and twists and turns in the plot.
I can't wait for more by this new British author.
Liz Nichols
The author blurb indicates that the novel is borne out of Bolton's fascination for British folklore, and the basis for this book is a blood curdling folktale from the Shetland Islands that goes back to the Viking heritage of the isles. The heroine, obstetrician, Tora Hamilton, is a transplant from the mainland who moves to the Shetlands with her native born husband, Duncan Guthrie and discovers while trying to bury her fallen horse on their newly purchased farm a dead body of a woman who has both recently given birth and had her heart torn out from her body while she was still alive. Naturally, this sets off a forensic hunt for the killer or killers.
The frigid land and reserved people are finely drawn in this chilling tale. It is hard to know who to trust and whether most of the people Tora meets are in on a huge conspiracy to hide an ancient, bloody practice.
I must confess this book was hard to put down and I read it cover to cover in only two or three sittings, ignoring all kinds of other things I should have been doing.
This book is not for the squeamish, but those who can stomach a little gore will be well rewarded by the intrigue and twists and turns in the plot.
I can't wait for more by this new British author.
Liz Nichols
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Stealing Athena by Karen Essex
This is the kind of book I thoroughly enjoy from first page to last. It takes a small historical fact and builds a story around it that is, at least, plausible, if not in every detail true. I came away feeling I knew a lot more about both the British Georgian empire-building period and the Age of Pericles when the Parthenon was built.
The two simultaneous stories take the "diplomatic" coup of British Earl of Elgin in bringing to Great Britain a number of the frieses and columns from the Parthenon during his stay as Ambassador to Turkey. Despite what we may feel about the appropriateness of taking another country's artifacts, during the Napoleonic period it was really a matter of seeing them destroyed by the French or the Turkish, or taking possession of as many artifacts as possible for Great Britain.
The heroine of the 19th century part of the tale is Mary, Countess of Elgin, who was a trail-blazer as a woman in diplomatic circles within an Islamic country and managed to charm both men and women among the Turkish. Without her persistence and charming, and culturally sensitive social skills, her husband would never have been able to pull off the artistic and cultural feat of bringing so much of Greek antiquity to Great Britain.
The additional, and more speculative story, is that of Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, who may have been the inspiration for the face of Athena at the Parthenon. This ancient story is not exploited in as much detail, but we do get a flavor of the Greek world in the Age of Pericles and the role of women during that time.
I strongly recommend this title for anyone who enjoys historical fiction for either the Napoleonic period, Ottoman Empire history or the history of the Greek Golden Age.
The two simultaneous stories take the "diplomatic" coup of British Earl of Elgin in bringing to Great Britain a number of the frieses and columns from the Parthenon during his stay as Ambassador to Turkey. Despite what we may feel about the appropriateness of taking another country's artifacts, during the Napoleonic period it was really a matter of seeing them destroyed by the French or the Turkish, or taking possession of as many artifacts as possible for Great Britain.
The heroine of the 19th century part of the tale is Mary, Countess of Elgin, who was a trail-blazer as a woman in diplomatic circles within an Islamic country and managed to charm both men and women among the Turkish. Without her persistence and charming, and culturally sensitive social skills, her husband would never have been able to pull off the artistic and cultural feat of bringing so much of Greek antiquity to Great Britain.
The additional, and more speculative story, is that of Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, who may have been the inspiration for the face of Athena at the Parthenon. This ancient story is not exploited in as much detail, but we do get a flavor of the Greek world in the Age of Pericles and the role of women during that time.
I strongly recommend this title for anyone who enjoys historical fiction for either the Napoleonic period, Ottoman Empire history or the history of the Greek Golden Age.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
A Job to Kill For by Janice Kaplan
I'm back to the meat and potatoes of the books I normally read-- mysteries with Kaplan's "A Job to Kill For."
The heroine is interior decorator to a panoply of Los Angeles stars and business executives, and wife of a successful plastic surgeon, Lacy Field. When her college sorority sister and friend, Molly Archer, is accused of murdering the wife of her business partner, Roger Crawford, she asks Lacy Fields to investigate. The cops are sure Archer is having an affair with the husband, though she denies it and Field believes her.
What is absorbing about the book are the variety of suspects interwoven into the plot so that it is not easy to just guess at the real murderer. What I find tiresome is the contant product name dropping that Lacy does. Of course, as an interior decorator she is going to be detail oriented and very familiar with the best name brand merchandise. The book comes across as a running commercial for Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, any number of movies and stars as if just mentioning them in the book is going to make the author commissions. Maybe it does...
Anyway, the commercialism gets tiring even though it helps to set the context for this book and the lives of these characters.
Still, I kept reading for the plot, even though I must confess I could not identify with these characters, and I really did not care what happened to them. I think I might pass on this series in the future in favor of books with more likeable and complex characters.
Liz Nichols
The heroine is interior decorator to a panoply of Los Angeles stars and business executives, and wife of a successful plastic surgeon, Lacy Field. When her college sorority sister and friend, Molly Archer, is accused of murdering the wife of her business partner, Roger Crawford, she asks Lacy Fields to investigate. The cops are sure Archer is having an affair with the husband, though she denies it and Field believes her.
What is absorbing about the book are the variety of suspects interwoven into the plot so that it is not easy to just guess at the real murderer. What I find tiresome is the contant product name dropping that Lacy does. Of course, as an interior decorator she is going to be detail oriented and very familiar with the best name brand merchandise. The book comes across as a running commercial for Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, any number of movies and stars as if just mentioning them in the book is going to make the author commissions. Maybe it does...
Anyway, the commercialism gets tiring even though it helps to set the context for this book and the lives of these characters.
Still, I kept reading for the plot, even though I must confess I could not identify with these characters, and I really did not care what happened to them. I think I might pass on this series in the future in favor of books with more likeable and complex characters.
Liz Nichols
Friday, April 17, 2009
Mistress Shakespeare by Karen Harper
Harper is known as the bestselling author of "The Last Boleyn," so her credentials in historical fiction are well established. The latest book does not disappoint.
This is as close as we can know to the "real" story behind "Shakespeare in Love." If you liked the movie, you'll love the book. The author makes every effort to be historically accurate. She seems to take few literary liberties, and this is the kind of history that is easy to turn into colorful fiction.
Essentially, the historical fragments back up the story that William Shakespeare had a second wife with whom he grew up and married before his "shot gun" marriage to pregnant out of wedlock, Anne Hathaway. It appears that Shakespeare and his first wife lived separate lives, but were close through most of their lives. Anne Whateley supported herself by keeping the books and eventually taking over her father's transport business. She spent most of her time in London, where Shakespeare settled also.
The author contends that Anne Hathaway tacitly accepted this arrangement, just as long as she and her children were economically supported to their liking by the Bard.
Interesting read. I devoured it in a couple sittings.
Liz Nichols
This is as close as we can know to the "real" story behind "Shakespeare in Love." If you liked the movie, you'll love the book. The author makes every effort to be historically accurate. She seems to take few literary liberties, and this is the kind of history that is easy to turn into colorful fiction.
Essentially, the historical fragments back up the story that William Shakespeare had a second wife with whom he grew up and married before his "shot gun" marriage to pregnant out of wedlock, Anne Hathaway. It appears that Shakespeare and his first wife lived separate lives, but were close through most of their lives. Anne Whateley supported herself by keeping the books and eventually taking over her father's transport business. She spent most of her time in London, where Shakespeare settled also.
The author contends that Anne Hathaway tacitly accepted this arrangement, just as long as she and her children were economically supported to their liking by the Bard.
Interesting read. I devoured it in a couple sittings.
Liz Nichols
Friday, March 27, 2009
Damage Control by J.A. Jance
It's been awhile since I've posted here. I have been busy creating an ebook for a client and have gotten behind in a lot of things, including my reading and blog posting.
J.A. Jance is one of my favorite authors. She is prolific, but her stories never get old. She has a unique way of telling them just like they happened in real time to her characters. Her last book may have taken place just hours before the new one, or sometimes years. While one story does not depend on having read the last, everything is connected by the details in the life design of her characters.
This particular series is from the Joanna Brady series. She has a new hurdle in life as the mother of a newborn. She has a stay-at-home spouse who takes care of things at home, but he is chomping at the bit to get out and publicize his new book. They test out the grandparents to determine it they can cope with babysitting and settle on a family that has lost its trailer home to a fire.
As usual, Jance weaves two or three murders and other suspicious acts into the plot. Resolving things is just all in a day's work on the part of Brady and her sheriff's deputies.
This is must read for any Jance fan.
Liz Nichols
J.A. Jance is one of my favorite authors. She is prolific, but her stories never get old. She has a unique way of telling them just like they happened in real time to her characters. Her last book may have taken place just hours before the new one, or sometimes years. While one story does not depend on having read the last, everything is connected by the details in the life design of her characters.
This particular series is from the Joanna Brady series. She has a new hurdle in life as the mother of a newborn. She has a stay-at-home spouse who takes care of things at home, but he is chomping at the bit to get out and publicize his new book. They test out the grandparents to determine it they can cope with babysitting and settle on a family that has lost its trailer home to a fire.
As usual, Jance weaves two or three murders and other suspicious acts into the plot. Resolving things is just all in a day's work on the part of Brady and her sheriff's deputies.
This is must read for any Jance fan.
Liz Nichols
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
